Platform for lawn mowers



July 10, 1951 P. w. HAINKE 2,559,920

PLATFORM FOR LAWN MOWERS Filed July 5, 1949 WW I s 2 INVEN TOR. Pau/ Ha/hke Patented July 10, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PLATFORM FOR LAWN MOWERS Paul W. Hainkc; Hutchinson, Kans., assignor to The- Paul Hainke Mower Corporation, Inc., Hutchinson; Kansaa corporation of'Kansas Application July 5, 1949, Serial'No. 103,003

(01. Eli-25.4)

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates'to lawn mowers of the kind having a blade rotatable on a horizontal axis below a supporting platform therefor, the primary-object being toimprove upon the platform structure itself whereby-to produce an inexpensive, attractive, durable combination of parts readily adaptable'for mounting all of the supporting wheels for the mower, the prime mover, handle bars and. rotatable drive shaft in.-

terconnecting the aforesaid blade and prime mover.

It is the most important object of this invention to provide platform structure for lawn mowers so. formed and contoured as to be extremely rigid without the necessity of expensive;

bulky and heavy supplemental bracing means commonly employed When'flat, horizontal plat forms are provided, the platform itself being mower and to receive the handle bar structure thereof;

Other objects of the present invention relate to the way in which the platform is adapted to receive a mounting arm for a caster-like pilot wheel; the way in which such last mentioned wheel and the rear wheel and axle assembly are mounted to permit adjustment of the cutting height of the' blade; the way in which the handle bars are adjustably mounted; and themanner of bracing the entire mower through an interconnection between the handle bars and the supporting arm of the pilot wheel.

Other moreminor objects will be made clear or become apparent as the following specification progresses, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a hand-propelled being broken away to reveal details of construction.

Fig. 3 is a substantially, central, vertical, crosssectional view through the platform assembly per se; and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, detailed cross-sectional view taken on line IVIV of" Fig. 2;

As is readily apparent in the drawing, the lawn mower forming the subject matter hereof is of' the type having a prime mover It], provided with a substantially vertically disposed drive shaft I2 that in turn has an elongated cutter blade I4 secured to the lowermost end thereof.

The prime mover leis supported upon a platform broadly designated by the numeral l6- and shown with clearness in Fig. 3. Platform [6 is' in turn supported by a pair of spaced apart rear wheels is and 2G mounted upon a substantially horizontal axle 22 and by a forwardmost pilot wheel 24 rotatably mounted on'an axle 26 parallel with the axle 22. i

The platform [6 comprises a main substantially dome-shaped housing 28 that has a downturned flange portion or side wall 343. The housing 28 is circular and accordingly, the side wall 3% defines a complete continuous annulus'with the exception only of a-cut-away portion 32 in the form of an arcuate, segmental notch.

aforesaid, the housing 28 has a top wall 34 that is dome-shaped and provided with a flat, cen-- trally disposed circular top portion 36. This flat portion 3G-of the dome-shaped top wall 34*has-a relatively small opening 38 for clearing the drive shaft l2 of prime mover H3.

Prime mover l 9 is provided with a flat circular base that rests directly upon the uppermost" face ofthe fiat portion 3'3 of wall 345 and is secured directly thereto through the medium of a plurality of bolts or the like 42.

A; bearing 44 is provided-for the shaft 2 and is disposed within the housing 28- directly below the flat portion 36 of top wall 34. Bearing 44 hasa fiat, circular top plate 56, a plurality of rein forcing webs 4B underlying plate 46, and a boretherethrough for rotatably receiving the drive shaft 12.

Bore 50 is in direct alignment with the open-- ing 33 and is secured to the plate portion 3621sarm is contoured to the shape of walls 34 and- 363 and the fastening elements 56 secure arm 54 to both of said walls; normally forwardmost end of the housing 28 in Arm 54 is disposedat-the' 3 diametrically opposed relationship to the notch 32 of wall 30.

The platform I6 includes in addition to the housing 28, a hollow case broadly designated by the numeral 58. Case 58 has a flat top wall 53 horizontally disposed within the same plane as the top portion 36 of housing wall 34. The forwardmost edge of the wall 60 is cut away arouately as at 62 to clear the circular base 40 of prime mover l and to conform to the contour of the dome-shape wall 34, the entire forwardmost edge of wall 60 being welded directly to the wall 3 3. Case 58 is also provided with a pair of opposed downwardly extending and spaced apart parallel side walls 64 integral with the flat top wall 58 r and contoured at the forwardmost edges thereof as at 66 to conform to the walls 30 and 34 of housing 28. These forwardmost edges 36 of side walls 54 are also welded directly to the housing 28. The distance between the side walls 54 is greater than the length of the arcuate notch 2-2 and casing 58 is disposed to entirely encompass the notch 32. Accordingly, as is clear in Fig. 3, portions of the side wall 38 extend into casing 58. Similarly, a segmental portion of the domeshaped top wall 34 extends into casing '53 in direct underlying relationship to the top wall 6! Casing 58 has a rearmost end wall that includes a portion 58 extending at an angle downwardly and outwardly from the rearmost edge of wall 68 and a portion inte ral with portion {=3 and extending vertically downwardly therefrom in substantial parallelism with the plane of wall 39. The portion ii! of the end wall of case 58 is spaced from the housing 28 and terminates at its lowermost edge above the lowermost edges of the side walls 64. Since the said lower edges of side walls 64 are adjacent the lower edge of housing 28, the lower edge of end wall section i0 is spaced a higher distance from the ground when the mower is placed in use than the housing 28. Each side Wall 54 of the case 58 is provided with a number of vertically aligned openings 12 for selectively receiving the axle '22, axle 22 accordingly spanning the distance across the case 53 and extending at each end thereof beyond the outermost faces of side walls 64 for receiving the wheels l6 and 20. Since the distance between the side walls 64 is appreciably less than the over-all diameter of the housing 28, and further, since the wheels i8 and 26 are disposed next adjacent their respective side walls 64, it is seen, as is clear in Fig. 1, that the cutting blade M which has a length that is only slightly less than the inside diameter of side wall 30, overlaps the paths of travel of wheels l8 and it.

In addition to the openings 12 providing means to adjust the cutting height of blade I4, the forwardmost end of the platform i5 is adjustable through the following structure.

The forwardmost and upper end of the arm 54 has a bearing M for receiving a vertical pin 73 that passes through bight portion 78 of a fork 80. The lowermost end of the fork 8?) receives the axle and wheel 24 is rotatably disposed between the legs of fork 80. The lowermost end of pin 16 is held in place by a transverse cotter key or the like 82, and a plurality of washers 84 are threaded upon the pin 15 on both sides of the bearing M. A second cotter key or like fastening means 86 on the uppermost end of the pin '55, holds the entire assembly in place. It is seen that the height of the arm 54 and accordingly of the forwardmost end of housing 82 is determined by the positioning of the washers 84. The adjustment can be simply accomplished by placing more or fewer washers 84 between the bearing 14 and the bight 18 of fork 80.

The casing 58 of platform 60 serves additionally to mount a handle bar comprising a pair of rods 85 of identical character and spaced apart at the lowermost ends thereof to embrace the case 58. Said lower ends of the rods 86 lie flatly against the outermost faces of the side walls 64 and are provided with a plurality of openings 88 for selectively receiving a pin or bolt 90 serving as a means of fastening the rods 85 to the walls 64.

Rods 86 incline upwardly and rearwardly from the casing 53 and terminate at their uppermost ends in opposed hand grips 92. An arcuate brace or supporting member 94 interconnects the handle bar rods 86 with the arm 54.

A pin 96 joins the lowermost end of rod 95 to the arm 54 and a transverse pin S28 interconnecting the rods 66 intermediate the ends thereof, joins the brace member 96 to rods 86.

A plurality of openings I08 in the uppermost end of the brace 94 selectively receive the cross pin 98. Accordingly, the height of the handle portions 92 may be adjusted to suit the desire of the operator and in accordance with the height of the platform 15 by changing the position of the bolts 98 with respect to the openings 88. Similarly, the angularity of the handle bar portions as may be changed by moving the cross pin 98 into difiering openings lfill. The brace arm 53% not only supports the handle portions 86, but affords complete control by the operator of the pilot wheel 24 since force supplied to the handle portions 92 will be imparted to the arm 53 through brace member 84. If the operator desires to raise the pilot wheel 2% in turning operations or for other reasons, a downward movement on handle portions 92 will raise wheel 24 through the brace member 94.

It is seen that when the mower is placed in use, grass cuttings within the housing 28 are free to drop downwardly and such cuttings as tend to cling to the blade M will be forced from housing 28 through the cut-away notch 32 and thence into the casing 58 for final discharge below the end wall section iii. The operator is completely protected against injury since it is virtually impossible for his foot to reach thewhirling blade i4 even though he happens to pull the mower to move the wall section ill over his foot. For the most part, wall section 19 will prevent the operators foot from entering housing 58 but even if such condition should take place, the

. end wall section :8 will strike the operators ankle and prevent injury to the foot.

The outstanding strength and durability of the entire platform 66 and particularly the housing portion 28 thereof, is apparent because of the shape thereof. The flimsy and yieldable flat type of platform will not adequately support a relatively heavy prime mover and is not capable of absorbing the shocks and vibration that takes place when blade l4 rotates. The drum-like housing 28 is entirely self-sustaining and needs no additional braces whatsoever to absorb such vibration and present a solid supporting foundation for the prime mover it), drive shaft l2 and the cutting blade M. By making the housing 28 conform as closely as possible to the path of travel of blade 14, the mower can be moved into close relationship with walls, hedges and the like since no protruding platform parts are presented to hinder such close operation.

Accordingly, while details of construction have 5 been set forth hereinabove, it is apparent that it is desired to be limited solely the broad principles hereof and such changes and modifications as fairly come within the scope of the appended claim, are contemplated hereby.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a platform for lawn mowers, a hollow housing having a fully open bottom; a vertical side wall, and a top wall integral with the upper edge of said side wall, said top being domeshaped and having a flat portion at the apex thereof, the base edge of said top portion being circular, said side wall being arcuate to conform with said base edge, said side wall having a portion thereof entirely cut away to present a segmental notch therein; and a laterally extending, open bottom, hollow body overlapping a portion of said top wall and a portion of said side Wall, said body having a flat top wall disposed within the plane of said flat portion of said top wall of the housing, said notch in the side wall being within the body, said body having a wall extending downwardly from said top wall thereof in spaced, overlapping relationship to said notch.

PAUL W. HAINKE'.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,308,076 Hainke Jan. 12, 1943 2,466,620 Swift et al Apr. 5, 1949 2,521,972 Haglund et al Sept. 12, 1950 

